Steadily increasing awareness to the risks of tobacco smoking and the medical complications associated with second-hand smoke have recently lead to the banning of smoking in many public places. In the past, tobacco smoking has typically been barred at institutions such as schools and hospitals. Recently however, certain states, including California, have passed legislation which outlaws tobacco smoking in all public buildings, including office buildings, bars, and restaurants. However, despite the many federal, state, and local government imposed smoking prohibitions or restrictions currently in place, there are many individuals who chose to ignore such restrictions and engage in tobacco smoking in public places.
There is currently known in the prior art various tobacco smoke detection systems or devices which are operative to sense or detect moderate to heavy levels of tobacco smoke. These prior art devices typically detect such smoke through the use of dual ionization, photoelectric, or combined ionization-photoelectric smoke detection units. Since these prior art devices are operative only to detect moderate to heavy levels of tobacco smoke, they are largely ineffective in outdoor areas or in large, well ventilated rooms where the tobacco smoking activity may occur in a location which is at some distance from the smoke detector, thus not providing a sufficient level of smoke to cause the same to generate or activate a suitable alarm.
Also known in the prior art are tobacco smoking detection devices which, in addition to being operable to sense tobacco smoke, are further operable to detect or sense the infrared heat signature generated by burning cigarettes or cigars. These types of prior art tobacco smoking detection devices, like those operable to sense tobacco smoke only, are typically effective for use in small rooms such as the lavatories of airplanes or in small offices, but also lack the sensitivity needed to detect tobacco smoking in well ventilated large rooms or outdoor areas outside of a building. Additionally, though being operable to detect the infrared heat signature of a burning cigarette or cigar, such prior art devices have low sensitivity to detecting the infrared heat signature generated by burning tobacco pipes, and may generate false signals from heat sources other than a burning cigarette or cigar.
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies associated with prior art tobacco smoking detection devices, and is based on the fundamental principle that tobacco smoking is typically initiated with the actuation of a cigarette lighter or the burning of a match which is used to fire or ignite a cigarette, cigar, or tobacco pipe. In this respect, the present invention provides a tobacco smoking detection device which is operable to sense or detect the flame used to facilitate the lighting or firing of the tobacco. In addition to being adapted to accomplish such flame detection at substantial distances, the detection device of the present invention is also specifically configured to ignore the effects of background optical radiation, and thus not generate false alarms as a result thereof. More particularly, though being operable to detect a flame of a cigarette lighter at distances of up to about 300 feet, the present detection device is not triggered as a result of sunlight, objects heated to high temperatures from sunlight, heated car engines, building heaters, or incandescent or fluorescent lamps. The present detection device is also provided with smoke detecting capability for those instances when an individual enters into the monitored area with a previously lit cigarette, cigar or pipe, or for those instances when smoking is started via a cigarette-to-cigarette tobacco lighting process. These, and other advantages associated with the present detection device, will be discussed in more detail below.